Sex: MaleHeigen Colette After his discussion with Phineas it had been set. He would work hard and greedily towards his goal of a higher rank and the title disciplinarian. Given the name, by his ivory regal leader, of the man he had to go after, Heigen made sure to hold onto that name. Tannis. The large Colette man had nothing else to go off of. No looks, no last name, no role. Nothing but a name. But a name was a start and so he would take it and run with it. The earthy colored man was standing somewhere in between the pack dens and the borders when he lifted his head on that clear day. His call rang out with challenge in his tone, a call meant for Tannis and Tannis alone. Of course if anyone else showed Heigen wouldn't mind. It would just mean that other's would get to see his dominance. The man was standing tall and proud. His muscular chest was proudly pushed out. Heigen's ears stood erect and tall waiting for the mere sound of the man's arrival. Although Heigen wasn't anxious about what was about to happen he was certainly excited. If he won, that meant he was one chance closer to holding the rank of second. But if he lost, then that meant he wasn't ready. He would have to invest more of his time into his strategies, not that that bothered him. A small smile and a hungry gleam in his eyes would be the only thing that would give away his excitement to the other. "Speech."We made this river a wall |
Every move you make,
Every vow you break,
Every smile you fake,
Every claim you stake,
I'll be watching you...
_____________
While it could have been said that Tannis Andreas had been very scarce around the lands - crawling and slinking through the snow like some formidable frost-covered beast with fur spiked like inverted icicles - quite the opposite could have been said as well: that the auburn-tinged brute was somehow acting as though he were being hunted by such a terrible, fear-inspiring beast. On the 'highways' had been established below and along the ridges of Silent Moon Plateau, he crept with his head held low and his tail dragging about behind him.
He had just recovered a bit of frost-bitten branch from the forests below when he had heard his name bellowed out to the skies above. A call. A summons. For him. Only him... and the party in question definitely was not Phineas.
A chill raked its way down his bony spine and everywhere along his body, his fur stood up on end and bristled out of apprehension. Shit, he cursed in his head. Shit. A list of his current actions, deeds, recent activity tried to form in his mind but left him with a jumbled mess instead. Only a few things were for certain: firstly, Tannis could have very well been having a heart attack as his heart drummed in his chest and his breathing quickened; and, secondly, he was absolutely unsure what he could have done to have caught someone else's attention. As far as he was concerned, he had been doing his part and pulling his own weight - sleeping on the outermost edges of the den and plateau to help shield the younger members from the wind, scavenging for food and giving whatever he found to Phineas' growing brood (the near-yearlings he all now knew by name and scent), keeping himself busy (ie. staying out of his Leader's way and not bothering any of the other pack members), and the like...
Grinding his molars against his tree branch as he went, the Andreas slowly and eventually came to hold an audience with a rather intimidating-looking soul. The dark mask on his face paired with his tall and bulky stature, and puffed out chest made him all the more menacing.
Unfortunately, Tannis' first instinct was to avert his eyes and flatten his ears. For all he knew, he might have accidentally wronged this particular pack mate. A sharp, whistled whine escaped his flared nostrils and he focused his white-ringed irises on the male's chest and forelimbs. He visibly trembled, clenching the branch in his jaws as he offered a wordless inquiry with a harsh wheeze from his chest, "Ye-yes?"
The man who, must have, been named Tannis showed. Whines were thrown out and it made Heigen frown a bit. Although Heigen couldn't and wouldn't back down out of pity. "You must be Tannis?" He asked just to clarify and perhaps clear any extra unneeded stress from the man. "I'm Heigen Colette." Flicking his tail once and a nod of his headed he proceeded to eye over the man.
His opponent didn't seem like much of a challenge and or fighter at all. He seemed scrawny with ungodly long legs attached to him. The way he appeared almost reminded him of a spider. Of course Tannis was much more appealing to look at then any spider. Deciding not to waste any more time Heigen was ready to jump right to the case.
"Well Tannis, I call you here today in hopes of challenging you for your rank of third position," Pausing and glancing at the mottled male once more he sighed lightly. "I'll give you a choice though. We can either rightfully fight it out, and may the best man win, or we could talk it." Although Heigen much preferred fighting it out for the pure sake of more learning and seeing the other in action, the Colette man was truly unsure if Tannis may even be interested in laying a tooth on Heigen. Even Gen knew that he was much more bulkier and perhaps had the upper paw if things came to fighting. On the other hand @Tannis may have had more luck with speed, especially with those awfully long legs.
Tannis' brows touched as he perked at the sound of his name. While still keeping hold of his tree branch, he quietly nodded in reply. The intimidating man, it turned out, had a name: Heigen Colette. Plain, neither strange or peculiar on the tongue or ears. The Andreas' eyes went to the subtle flicking movement of Heigen's tail; he swallowed hard, recoiling backwards into a slouched sitting position..
"Well Tannis," Heigen began again, using his name once more and making the smaller subordinate flinch, "I call you here today in hopes of challenging you for your rank of third position." Tannis' forehead seemed to squirm over his brow - twitching downward and upward and back again - making him briefly squint while he confirmed in his head that he was indeed third in rank on the male pecking order. Phineas, one, Ace, two, Tannis, three... and Heigen... four. Oh. Okay, then.
The scrawnier man's ears lowered even further at the word "challenging" and "fight." It brought to mind the memories of being chased, feeling the hard nips of the Corvinus' jaws at his thighs and rump, and the day he had seen his mother and siblings die at the jaws of the enemy. Saliva began to dribble down the hard wood that made up his tree branch and immediately Tannis looked truly away, focusing on the gravel on he ground to his right instead of his rival's chest and paws.
"O-okay," he mumbled, letting go of his branch at last. "But... B-but, first, wait." His yellow-eyed gaze flickered up to Heigen's face for the briefest of moments before maneuvering about in such a way so that he actually crept to one side as to place his ice-covered bough up and out of the way against a smooth, snow-covered stone. As he turned about to face the other male, Tannis let out a low whine as though to verbally signal that he was ready.
"I was here first," he pitifully declared like a mewling cub, a sour look distorting his face as he weakly stood up on four very shaky legs. "I was here first... Do you think a promotion in rank will make Phineas like you even more? Is that why?" His questioning and argument was a terrible one, if he had to be honest with himself, but in one way or another, this was how Tannis had decided to "test" the brute if they were just going to "talk" this all over.
![[Image: grey-autumn2014sigTANNIS.png]](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-uEgztBqFvp8/VEGtCePtG_I/AAAAAAAAL_g/S3NPks90gQs/s0/grey-autumn2014sigTANNIS.png)
Heigen was ready as soon as the verbal whine from Tannis was given. He squared himself off. Legs evenly placed out for balance. Tannis was sadly declaring something that Heigen didn't catch..until a questioned was poised. "In fact, Tannis, it may not make him like me more but it will help me reach my goals in helping the pack." He paused and looked at @Tannis with a glare. "So actually, I think the pack in general will like me more. Who doesn't like a man who knows what he wants?" Flicking his tail high above his back the Colette man let out a rumble from his chest. Perhaps he was coming on a bit strong for the poor shaky male but that was the thing about life. Nothing and everything was fair all at once.
Taking a step forward Heigen leveled his head out with his shoulders. His hackles raising just the slightest bit. He didn't really think he need to appear any bigger but he was willing to do anything that would fully tip the scales in his favor. Of course the large male was already feeling rather good about this fight. A skimpy little thing against a strong buff brute. Heigen was practically born to fight and train. So how hard could this be?
In his thought process it was then the weather conditions really struck him. If anything did proceed onward the two would be scuffling in some thick snow and chilling temperature. Gen wasn't one for fighting in snow but he assumed it was better than fighting on icy rocks. Worst case scenario (hopefully) was someone fell and got a face full of snow. Alas Heigen knew things could be much worse he hoped they wouldn't be.
Heigen shot him a glare, it made the scrawnier brute tense up. "So actually," he continued, prompting a low hum from Tannis, "I think the pack in general will like me more. Who doesn't like a man who knows what he wants?" The Andreas shook his head as if to agree that no one had a problem with a man who knew what he wanted, but when another growl thundered from Heigen's burly chest, that was it... just like that... Tannis was had practically toppled over in some sort of apology.
His shoulder had hit the ground first at the sight of his pack mate's lifted hackles, and, in wanting to still defend himself, all four of his off-white limbs were tucked close to his torso and belly. His bushy tail twitched, brushing both dirt and loose pebbles aside. He let out a pitiful wail; by the sound of it, one might have assumed that Heigen had already sunken his teeth into him when, in reality, nothing had been done at all.
His goldenrod eyes were nothing but narrow slits now. "Please," he implored. "P-please d-don't!" He quivered as he shifted, laying flat on his back now as to fully display his ivory-furred abdomen. If there was one thing Tannis Andreas was truly afraid of, the sensation of pain was at the top of his list. He couldn't stand to endure it, to listen to someone suffer through it, or to even be the one inflicting it upon someone else.
"Whatever you want of me, I'll give it to you," he nervously barked, his 'woof' sounding more like a coyote yip. "I-I give. Just leave me a-" he had begun to cough as though something had become stuck at the back of his throat, "a-alone." He rolled back over so that he was sprawled out on his side with his ears pressed to his head and his eyes fully closed, waiting for his opponent and superior to call a truce - or something of the sort - and walk away.
The scene had changed so soon. Almost too soon. The male in front of the Colette who had been putting up a sore fight dropped to the ground. Tannis' shoulder slamming into the ground first. Heigen's rather dominating position was dropped slight, although his tail still held high, as he watched the show @Tannis was putting on. How peculiar...
A shove of words, whines, and yaps were given to Heigen along with the exposure of his underside. That was it? No real scuffle? It seemed the large Colette man had gotten worked up for nothing after all. "Then so be it," Heigen's deep and smooth voice flowed out. "Your previous rank of third is now mine." While pride was bubbling up in his gut his conscious knocked at him to be polite. Poor Tannis had been scared out of his fur and Heigen was going to be a jerk? No no, he wouldn't allow himself to be rude to the scrawny thing.
"I'll make sure you're well taken care of, okay? You're a good member." Offering a small grin Heigen's tail waved above his back in a more kinder way then challenging way. "I'd like to see you again sometime soon Tannis, if you don't mind?" His voice trailed off. Heigen wanted to learn so much more about the elusive male. While Heigen would likely be busy trying to raise is way up the rank (Ace being his next match) the Colette was more than willing to make time for Tannis. It seemed like the male needed some love anyways.
"Then so be it," Heigen gave Tannis the final, defining words. Tannis, himself, gave an affirming whimper between his coughs in reply. "Your previous rank of third is now mine." Though his eyes remained closed and his belly remained exposed to the skies, he made an attempt now to tame his coughing; having been panicked over the whole ordeal for a few moments had pushed him on the cusp of hyperventilating and, somehow, fearing for his life after speaking his mind. Eventually, within a matter of holding his breath and slowly taking in a few lungfuls of air, he had quieted down to a bit a wheezing when he slowly rolled over with a wince.
It was here that Heigen added that he would see that Tannis, a subdued opponent, was looked after and cared for. Why Heigen felt that the Andreas was a "good subordinate" or how he had come to such a decision was beyond Tannis' expanse of thought but a small part of him so desperately wanted to believe it and soak up every bit of sentiment in such a thing. What he had known and learnt of loyalty typically overshadowed any other aspect that made up his sense of self-worth - humility, modesty, submissiveness, timidity, insecurity.
"I'd like to see you again sometime soon Tannis, if you don't mind?"
The now fourth-ranking member of Silent Moon Plateau slowly opened his eyes and briefly held his superior's gaze before turning to look away. "O-okay," he exhaled, waiting now for the sound of the tawny male's departure. "I-I'll be, er, here... er, around..."
"I'll be taking my leave now I guess, Tannis. It was a pleasure meeting you to say the least." Offering a small friendly nod and a brief toothy smile Heigen adjusted his large body to face away from the spider like male. Flicking his tail in a final goodbye the large tawny male would set off. Possibly to go tell Phineas or Aesire of his new place or maybe just to go do another round of borders. Heigen still had a lot of built up energy from a hopeful battle that he had to let it out somehow. The thought of possibly training the children came to mind. Celandine especially came to mind. If the small princess wished to be a queen one day she would need to learn how to fight like a well aged warrior.
Setting off with one final glance over his shoulder Heigen thought to himself how long Tannis would stay there quivering and wheezing. Part of him wanted to turn around and offer a helping paw but the more rugged side of him figured Tannis would get over it and that the Colette had better things to do anyways.
-HEIGEN EXIT-
